I finally saw “Straw” and I have a few things to say about the film. But before I do that, I'd like to share a paragraph from a book I recently read. The paragraph stated that “being poor is very expensive”. This statement is not very far from the entire plot of the movie “Straw” and this is why I've highlighted it here.
I do not want to begin rambling about how poor people get it worse based on the cases I've seen at the hospital but if we’re being honest, they do. They can barely afford anything for themselves not to talk of affording proper healthcare or food. Now they make do with what they have, patronize low quality products and stand a chance of suffering whether physically, mentally, psychologically or otherwise courtesy of their poor choices and misplaced reasoning. The worst kind of combo is being poor and chronically ill. Calamitous!
The movie revolves around Taraji P. Henson (Janiyah) a single mother, living in a dilapidated apartment with her frequently ill daughter, Aria. One morning, Aria expresses frustration about how her teacher openly stated that she can't afford lunch and this upsets Janiyah. Helpless, Janiyah drops Aria off at school and hurries to work in hopes that she would get a check at the end of work.
A few minutes after she arrives at work, she gets a call from Aria’s school and hurries back to the school. On arrival, she is confronted by the principal and a representative from Child Protective Services who takes her daughter away despite her pleas. Driving back in the rain, Janiyah faces a few challenges like a driving ticket and eviction from her home which all culminate in her late return to work. At work, she meets a raging boss who fires her on the spot and still refuses to write a check for her. From here, it is all chaos. Janiyah must find a way to get the check, cash the check and get lunch money for her baby girl, while still figuring out where they would sleep by nightfall.
This American psychological crime drama was released on the 6th of June, 2025. The film was produced and directed by Tyler Perry who decided to do something unconventional by taking a bolder step into a darker, more psychological territory.
Janiyah (Taraji P.Henson), the lead actor in this film, delivers a very powerful performance. Her balance between pain and determination is really a sight to see. Her screen performance, emotional depth and raw delivery commands attention. The supporting characters on the flip side lacked depth. The only supporting characters that gave some form of value were the bank manager and the female police officer to some degree. The performance from the rest of the characters did not stand out. Some performances felt a bit too shabby and unreal while the others seemed overwrought.
Themes of resilience, motherhood, single parenting, injustice and the mental tolls of poverty and oppression are explored in this movie. Janiyah’s story is a testament to the sacrifices that mothers, especially single parents, make just to ensure that their children are well catered for. It gets exhausting and mentally draining. On many occasions, they may have the thought of giving up but they keep moving, relentlessly, because they need to keep their babies alive and safe.
I believe this film does not just portray certain themes, it also throws some light on the hurdles of poor people in America, ranging from lack of quality healthcare to an inflexible work environments. Because why fire a visibly distressed employee? Whatever happened to sitting them down and finding out what is actually going on? Or do we live in a world where employees' general wellbeing does not matter? This is a sad reality but I'm confident that it doesn't just happen in America. It's a global situation.
If I am being honest, this film was not extremely fascinating from the start. At some point, it got monotonous and boring because all I kept seeing was a distressed single mother who just wanted to cash her check and line of misunderstandings following this action but then came the eye-opening plot twist to save the day. I can’t say a lot about this plot twist because if I do, I would give a major spoiler. But, one thing I can say is that the plot twist gave more profundity to the film. It made viewers understand the reason behind Janiyah’s actions. Dare I say that the plot twist took me by surprise, something that rarely happens whenever I see movies. For this, I'd like to give Tyler Perry his flowers.
I'm hesitant to rate this movie, as my opinion might be influenced by my personal biases, but if I absolutely had to, I'd give this movie a 3/5 rating. Stay with me. Due to the hype surrounding the movie, plus the fact that I had already known about 80% of the movie from reels and reviews from friends, it wasn't a particularly exciting watch for me. I only opted to see the movie because I gave my word to a friend. Now, I watched it just to fulfil all righteousness and in my opinion, it wasn't a blockbuster movie. However, it was an okay watch and I would recommend it to anyone looking to pass time.
